US President Donald Trump's new travel restrictions on 12 citizens invited citizens of 12 African and the Middle East on Monday to intensify the administration's crackdown on immigration. The order, according to the White House, blocks most new visa applications and refuses to have a secure security review or repatriation of citizens.
The ban covers citizens of Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, the Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen. Additional restrictions also apply to citizens of Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela, and do not have a valid visa outside the United States. The new rules will not cancel existing visas, but applications submitted on Monday face automatic denial unless the applicant qualifies for a certain exemption.
President Trump said the policy is based on Department of Homeland Security data and cites high visa overreach rates and weak identity verification in many listed countries. He also pointed to terrorist attacks in Colorado by visa-over-residents from Egypt, which are not included in the list as justification for stricter control.
“This policy is not about national security, it is about the sector and slander that seeks security and opportunity in the United States,” said Oxfam America President Abby Maxman.
The measure was met with backlash from advocacy groups and communities with ties to affected countries, including Haiti and Afghanistan. Afghan citizens with special immigrant visas remain exempt. This is a provision intended to protect those who worked with the US military during the Two Years' War.
